August 19, 2012

After being inspired by a friend who has lost weight and looks amazing I have joined Weight Watchers. My goal is to lose 7kg before I go to Thailand in October.

I have been allocated 26 points per day which can be hard to stick to if you choose not to follow the 7 day meal plan, as I am not sticking to the meal plan I have to ensure I have all the ingredients and time to prepare each meal and that I don't go over the 26 points (luckily there are pro points which are extra points if you go over your daily limits or if you want to save them for dining out).

Leading up to the weekend I was slightly scared as my weekends are usually spent eating and drinking too much. Surprisingly I did fine when I went to the movies on Friday night I was able to have a coffee and 8 Mars pods which was achieved through a lunch and dinner containing little points, on Saturday night I was able to eat out at a Japanese resteraunt and have a vodka, lime and soda achieved by dipping into my pro points and today I had lunch at my local shopping centre food court, two rice paper rolls.

There are many delicious Weight Watchers recipes, so far I have cooked a Japanese soba fish noodle soup and tonight I cooked Chicken chasseur with potato mash, which have both been delicious.

Preparing the Chicken Chasseur

Chicken Chasseur in a casserole dish

Ready to eat!

To date I have been happy with Weight Watchers, yesterday I attended my first meeting where I weighed in followed by a informative session. In the past 5 days I have lost 1.5kg, I will be sure to keep you posted with my progress.

August 13, 2012

Last night my husband, mother and father in law and I had dinner at Siam Corner. Siam Corner is a Thai restaurant at Rouse Hill, the entertainment book voucher offers at 25% discount up to the value of $35.00.

I had never been too Siam Corner, I often drive past it however take little notice as it forms part of a number of shops, I was pleasantly surprised by the decor and the menu. The menu includes yummy dishes like Mussaman lamb, seared ginger and soy scallops, crispy pork belly to name a few.

We ended up ordering the $40.00 banquet, the 'Hills' banquet.

The entrees came out on one platter, on the platter there were spring rolls, fish cakes, peking duck rolls and salt and pepper squid sitting on a fresh bed of apple and plum sauce. The fish cakes were a tad to spicy for my liking however the salt and pepper squid was amazing.

We all enjoyed our meal, the dishes are slightly more expensive than most Thai restaurants however the food is fresh, quality ingredients are used and the dishes taste fantastic. The average rating on the table was 8.6. I personally rated the restaurant 9.0, the mussaman lamb was the best mussaman curry I have had, the crispy pork belly was also up there.

To finish our meals we had tea and coffee which was included in the banquet.

August 11, 2012

Tonight I am off to my bestie's house for dinner with our partners and friends. I have offered to make desert. I will be preparing a Chocolate mascarpone and strawberry trifle. I found the recipe in an edition of House and Garden magazine (below are the ingredients and method straight from the magazine). The photo of the trifle looks good (see above) and having bought almost all the ingredients it is proving to be a costly trifle - 900g strawberries, 750g mascarpone, 300g dark chocolate to name a few costly items.

2 To make sponge, place whole eggs, yolks and sugar in a large bowl and mix at high speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Sift flours into egg mixture and fold through with a large balloon whisk.

3 Pour mixture evenly into trays and bake 10mins or until golden and cooked through. Turn out onto racks covered with fresh sheets of sugared baking paper and peel off used baking paper. Cut 4x large circles (to fit serving dish) from sponge and set aside.

4 Place strawberries in a bowl with icing sugar and balsamic and set aside. Place mascarpone in a separate bowl and stir in cream. Bring to room temperature. Melt chocolate in a bowl over simmering water, then cool to room temperature. Combine mascarpone and chocolate (NB: chocolate and mascarpone must be at the same temperature before combining to prevent chocolate hardening).

Mascarpone, cream and chocolate

5 Alternately layer sponge circles with chocolate mascarpone and strawberries (reserving a few for garnish), finishing with a layer of mascarpone. Garnish with reserved strawberries.